Department of English & Humanities

Dr. Gregory J. Thompson
Department Head and Assistant Professor

Health Sciences
Room 244

918-343-7659
gthompson@rsu.edu
Course Web Page

Education

M.A., Theatre Studies/Dramaturgy
Florida State University
Anticipiated December 2008

Certificate, Program in American and Florida Studies
Florida State University
2003

• 19th Century American Literature and the “Gospel of Success”
  Committee: John Fenstermaker, Neil Jumonville, Bruce Bickley. This study focused specifically on the rhetoric in the writings of Ben Franklin, Horatio Alger and William Holmes McGuffey as a source for the construction of a business based American work ethic in the nineteenth century.

Ph.D., Program in Interdisciplinary Humanities
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
2002

• Dissertation: Aimee Semple McPherson: Therapeutic Responses to the Culture of Abundance. This study focused on the proliferation of therapeutic culture, through non-clinical avenues, in America during nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Specifically the study focused on the shift between the intuitions of religion and the institutions of business as the primary source for moral grounding and individual self-valuation. This shift is demonstrated in the language of self-reliance and self-determination. The life and work of evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson was the case study for this exploration.

M.A., Department of Religious Studies
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
1997

• Thesis: A Critical Exploration of the Fragmented Relationship between Religion and Theatre with Special Reference to the Portrayal of Jews in Theatre. Committee: John Morreal, Denis Calandra, Darryl Fasching.

B.A., Theatre
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
1992

Teaching Interests

• American Studies
• Consumer Culture
• Therapeutic Culture
• Semiotics
• Shakespeare and Early Modern Dramatic Literature
• The Medieval and Early Modern English Stage
• Interdisciplinary Humanities
• Theatre History
• Post-colonialism
• Religion, Race, Class, Sexuality, and Gender issues in popular culture

Professional Experience

2006-Present
Assistant Professor
Rogers State University, Claremore, OK

• Courses: Humanities I, Humanities II, Online sections of Humanities II, Cinema, World Literature since 1600 (online), Introduction to Shakespeare (online), Comparative Religion (online)

2006
Online Instructor
New York University

• Courses: Language and Society

2003-2006
Instructor, English Department
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

• Courses: Introduction to Shakespeare, “Major Figures in American (Dramatic) Literature, American Authors Since 1870, Article and Essay Workshop, Women in Literature, Short Story

2003-2007
Online Adjunct Instructor
Florida Community College, Jacksonville, FL

• Courses: Humanities - the Foundations: Prehistory through the Late Middle Ages, Humanities - Renaissance through the Postmodern, Humanities in the Americas, Intercultural Experiences: Latin America

2000-2003
Instructor
American and Florida Studies Program

• “Changing American Character”
  "The MALLing of America: American Culture in the Era of Consumerism”
• “Life in the American Mind”
  “What is America? What is an American? and What is American Studies?”
  “Therapeutic Culture: Anxiety Over Abundance in the American Mind”
• “Special Topics in American Studies”
  “The Second City: Chicago and Changing Concepts of American Character”

Teaching Assistant
“The American Century” Leo Sandon, Professor

• Duties included grading student papers and exams, assisting in research for Professor Sandon’s lectures.

2000-2003
Instructor
Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities

• Courses: Humanities: The Enlightenment to Postmodernism, Cultural Imperialism, Multicultural Dimensions of Film in 20th Century Culture

Publications

Edited Books

Jason Grant McKahan, Caroline (Kay) Picart, Gregory J. Thompson, and Kathryn Field, eds., Multicultural Dimensions of Film in 20th Century Culture Reader. (McGraw-Hill, 2001)

Essays in Books

“Religion and the Arts” Popular Culture and the Arts Essays on Elitism versus Democratization. edited by Ray Brown and Lawrence A Kreiser  (McFarland 2008)

“What Shall Cordelia Say?”  Buffy as Morality Play for the Twenty-First Century’s Therapeutic Ethos”  co-authored with Sally Emmons-Featherston, in the Truth of Buff: Essays on Fiction Illuminating Reality edited by Dial-Driver, Emmons-Featherston, Ford and Taylor. (McFarland 2008)

“Interdisciplinary Opportunities:  Therapeutic Culture and the Study of Religion in the United States” in Popular Culture Studies Across the Curriculum edited by Ray Browne. (McFarland Press 2005)

Book Reviews

“Review of From Ballroom to DanceSport:  Aesthetics, Athletics, and Body Culture by Caroline Joan S. Picart.”  Journal of Popular Culture (December 2007).

“Review of Popular Culture and Theology by Gordon Lynch.”  Journal of Popular Culture. (2006)

“Review of Authentic Fakes:  Religion and American Popular Culture by David Chidester.” Journal of American Culture 28:4, (December 2005).

Playwright

“An Evangelist Drowns.”  Produced at Rogers State University. October, 2007.  Also Produced at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, Tulsa OK  January 2008.

Conference Paper Presentations

International

“Exit Pursued By A Bear:  Notorious Stage Direction or Genre Clue”  Conference on Medievalism, Toronto, Ontario October 2006.

“Performing Gender and Class:  Aimee Semple McPherson in Australia” Australia and New Zealand American Studies Association, Australia July 2006

“The Disney Dad:  Portrayals of Fatherhood in the Animated Films of the Disney Studios.” Presented at the Conference of the Americas.  Puebla, MX  1999

United States

“Therapeutic Culture and the Study of Religion in the United States” Oklahoma, Speech, Theatre Communication Association,  Tahlequah, OK  2008.

“The Sports Metaphor in Shakespeare”  Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, March 2008.

“Much Ado About Oklahoma:  RSU’s 2007 Production of Much Ado”  Oklahoma Speech, Theatre, Communication Association.  Bethany, OK, 2007.

“‘Tis a Pageant to keep us in false gaze:  Othello and the Tourist Gaze”  Popular Culture and American Culture Association Annual Meeting. Atlanta, 2006.

“‘Therefore, you men of Harfleur, Take pity of your town and of your people’: The Politics of Terror in Shakespeare’s History Plays” Submitted to the Film and Literature Conference. Tallahassee, 2006

“Aimee Semple McPherson and the Culture of Celebrity” Popular Culture and American
Culture Association Annual Meeting.  New Orleans,  2003.

“Franklin, Alger and McGuffey:  Creating the Myth of the Self-Made Man.”  Popular Culture
and American Culture Association Annual Meeting.  Accepted, Panel was cancelled. New Orleans.  2003.

“Religion and Sports in America”  Southwest and Texas American Studies Association. Albuquerque, 2003.

“From Regional Scarcity to National Abundance:  Transitions in American Culture Mirrored in
the Life of Aimee McPherson” The Southern American Studies Association Biennial Conference.  Tallahassee,  2003.

“The Holocaust and the Resistance of Humor” The 28th Annual Conference on Film and
Literature.  Tallahassee,  2003.

“Parthenogenesis and the Question of Becoming a ‘Real Boy.’ From Pinocchio to A.I.”
Presented at the  27th Annual Conference on Film and Literature,  Florida State University,
Tallahassee, 2002.

“American Christianity as Consumer Product.”  Presented at the Popular Culture and American Culture Association Annual conference.  New Orleans,  2000.

“Men Don’t Know Nuthin’ Bout Birthin No Babies:  Three categories of Fathers in the Disney Films.”  Presented at the 25th Annual Conference on Film and Literature.  Tallahassee,  2000

“Hyperreality and America’s Professional Baseball Parks.”  presented at The History, Memory
and American Culture Conference.  Michigan State University,  1999.

“The McDonaldization of Christianity in the 20th Century.”  Presented at the Annual Meeting of
the Association for the Sociology of Religion.  Chicago,  1999.

“The Portrayal of Jews in Theatre:  Narrative Ethics in Action.”  Presented at The 27th Annual

Other Conference Activities

Area Chair “Therapeutic Culture” Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations, since 2008.

Area Chair “Shakespeare the Elizabethans and the Early Modern World” Popular Culture Association, Since 2006.

Area Chair “Sport and Culture” Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations, 2005 to 2007.

Area Chair “Culture of Fandom” Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations, 2003-2007.

Section Moderator, “Images and Identities in the Southern ‘Americas,’”  26th Annual Film and Literature Conference, Tallahassee,  2000.

Service to the University

• Rogers State University, Department Head, Department of English and Humanities, 2007-present.
• Rogers State University, Interim Department Head, Department of English and Humanities, 2007-2008.
• Florida State University, Office Manager, Program in American and Florida Studies, 1999-2003.

Grants

“Dissertation Research Grant,” Florida State University, Office of Graduate Studies.  Used for travel to do archival research at the Heritage Center of The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in Los Angeles, 2001.

Membership in Professional Organizations

• Modern Language Association
• Shakespeare Studies Association
• Popular Culture Association
• American Studies Association